


Your Greatest Weakness

by afanwhodreams



Category: Emmerdale
Genre: Hogwarts AU, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-20
Updated: 2016-06-20
Packaged: 2018-07-16 03:29:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,416
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7250179
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/afanwhodreams/pseuds/afanwhodreams
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Aaron Dingle’s existence has always been a kind of consolation for Robert.</p>
<p> Robert is a Slytherin, not a Gryffindor like he expected.  The same happened to Aaron Dingle – he’s in Hufflepuff, not Gryffindor like the rest of his family. </p>
<p>Robert feels good, in a weird way, knowing that he is not the only disappointment to his family for not being a Gryffindor. It feels good to know there is someone else out there who was also supposed to be a Gryffindor. He has always felt connected to Aaron Dingle because of that.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Your Greatest Weakness

**Author's Note:**

> Hi!   
> I've been wanting to write this for months, but I was too scared because English is not my first language. But there is a friend who didn't let me give up, and she is the reason why this story is finally being written. Agus (softladsugden), you made this possible, this is for you. Thank you so much for everything.  
> And thank you, Sarah (aarons-sweaterpaws), for all your help!  
> I hope you enjoy this first -and actually very short- chapter!

“GRYFFINDOR!”, the Sorting Hat shouted.

Cheers and claps resounded in the Great Hall from an entire table. Andy smiled, proud. He ran to take a seat next to an older student, who patted his back.

Robert sighed.

That was a good sign. They had been raised together, so _maybe_ he could be a Gryffindor, too; it was in his blood after all. Not in Andy’s. But they were family anyway, and if Andy belonged in Gryffindor, then why shouldn’t Robert?

He knew that wasn’t an actual guarantee. He knew there were a lot of families whose members ended up in different houses. But there were others, like the Dingles, who all belonged in the same house. Maybe the Sugdens could be the same.

“Sugden, Robert!”

He swallowed. He could do this.

Robert stepped forward, legs were shivering and trying to stay calm. He could do this.

Then suddenly, all was black.

“Another Sugden!”, exclaimed a voice inside his head, “This must be my lucky day! Mmm… talent, I see a lot of talent.”

Robert had practiced this moment for years. He knew what he wanted. What he _needed_. So he replayed in his mind that moment, a few years back, when he had risked his own life to save his sister from an enormous dog.

“ _I’m brave_ ”, he thought.

“Clever. Really, really clever. Yes, a good mind we have here…”

“ _And loyal, I can be loyal_.”

“You think you belong in Gryffindor, then?”, asked the voice.

“ _I need to belong to Gryffindor. Please, let me be a Gryffindor._ ”

“But you are not a Gryffindor, though, are you?”. The Hat took a moment. It sounded sorry. “This is not about what you need. It’s about who you _are_. Trust me, you will thank me one day.”

Then the hat shouted “SLYTHERIN!”

Robert dropped his shoulders as if they were pushed down by a strong weight. He walked to the table of his new house, taking a seat as many people congratulated him. But his eyes were locked on Andy, who smiled weakly at him, almost with pity.

Why couldn’t he be just like Andy? Why couldn’t he be like all the Dingles sitting at the Gryffindor table? It would be so much easier, if he was a Dingle. All of them belonged in Gryffindor. There had never been a Dingle who didn’t.

“ _So much easier_ ”, he thought.

 

 

But that statement only lasted two years more.

Fast forward two years later and Robert was sitting at the Slytherin table, bored. He didn’t care at all about the Sorting Ceremony. Every year was the same and was always boring to Robert.

“Dingle, Aaron!”

No one was really paying attention now, except maybe the Dingles, from their table on the other side of the Great Hall from Robert. Everyone knew what followed after the name “Dingle” – it was always “Gryffindor”.

The latest Dingle was tiny, and not only because he was two years younger than Robert – he also seemed short for his age.

“HUFFLEPUFF!”, cried the hat.

Now everyone was paying attention. The Hufflepuff table remained in silence for a few seconds before someone started to clap. The kid, Aaron, seemed even smaller now, trying to hide his face as he headed to his new table.

Suddenly, being a Dingle didn’t seem that great anymore.

 

 

Victoria Sugden was made a Hufflepuff too.

“Like your mother”, Jack said when he heard the news. Maybe his smile wasn’t as wide as it had been with Andy, but his chest was still overflowing with pride for his youngest child.

Being in Hufflepuff was better than being in Slytherin, Robert remembered.

 

 

Jack Sugden was a farmer and had been all his life. He liked things being traditional - _things must be as they should be._

Robert was fine with that. It was actually easy for him. Slytherins were traditional - it was in his nature. 

A farm, a wife and children.

Robert didn’t like the farm, but he could have a house and a job in the Ministry of Magic. He could still have the wife and the kids. And Jack would still be proud.

“ _Tradition_ ”, he thought, while he was staring at Josh Hamilton’s arse from the other side of the restroom in third year.

“ _Tradition_ ”, he remembered, as he wondered how it would feel to touch Alexander Gilbert’s dick.

“ _Tradition_ ”, slipped between his lips, at the same time as he came, imagining Kyle Taylor’s mouth instead of his hand.

 

 

Chrissie was good. God, Chrissie was better than good. She was funny, she was smart, she knew what she wanted and she was mature for their age. Her smile was pretty, and her eyes shined when she talked about something she was passionate about. She smelt nice.  _Chrissie was perfect_.

She was pure-blood and a Ravenclaw, wich, although it wasn’t Gryffindor, was better than Slytherin. Anything was better than Slytherin. Jack liked her, when Robert introduced them to each other. He smiled at her, and then he smiled at Robert and he seemed _proud_.

And Robert knew she was _perfect_.

 

***

 

Aaron Dingle’s existence has always been a kind of consolation for Robert.

Robert is a Slytherin, not a Gryffindor like he expected. The same happened to Aaron Dingle – he’s in Hufflepuff, not Gryffindor like the rest of his family.

Robert feels good, in a weird way, knowing that he is not the only disappointment to his family for not being a Gryffindor. It feels good to know there is someone else out there who was also supposed to be a Gryffindor. He has always felt connected to Aaron Dingle because of that.

Maybe that’s the reason why Robert has a weird sensation in his stomach when he hears the news, sitting at the Slytherin table, on the second day of his latest year.

“He just came out”, whispers Matthew Benson, from the other side of the table.

“I heard that he has a boyfriend”, Clarissa Dalton says.

“It must be Adam, they are _always_ together”, points out Benson.

Ross Barton snorts. “Adam is not _gay_ ”, he says, making the last world sound like a curse.

“How do you know? You don’t even talk to him”, Clarissa frowns.

“I just know.”

“And what if he was?”, Robert asks.

“He’s not” Ross insists, “and I don’t know why you all care anyway. Go get a life”.

“We were just asking”, Benson rolls his eyes.

Ross just remains in silence, as if he didn’t actually care what his housemates think.

Robert glances over at the Hufflepuff table. His eyes go from one side to the other, but there is no sign of Aaron Dingle.

“Oi!”, Ross kicks Robert softly under the table interrupting his thoughts. “Just so you know, don’t expect me this afternoon for Quidditch practice”.

This catches Robert’s attention. “What?”

“I won’t be able to assist in tryouts, sorry. I’ll be being punished.”

“Punished for what?! It’s the second day!” Robert exclaims.

“Lets just say that I’m giving you a heads up that all the tables are gonna explode in Charms.”

“So you haven’t even done the prank yet?”

“Nope”, Ross is leaning back in his seat, totally relaxed.

“Don’t do it, then. We need you to choose the new member for the team.”

“Too late, sorry, mate… Anyway, I’m sure you’ll do a good job without me”. Ross grins before standing up and walking out if the Great Hall.

“Idiot”, Robert whispers to himself.

 

 

The students who came to the new Slytherin Seeker tryouts are now flying around the quidditch pitch under Robert’s eagle eye. Some other students from Slytherin are sitting in the stands watching, along with a few students from other houses, sitting in groups of two or three people. As if they are trying to go unnoticed.

There was just one person sitting alone, in one of the farthest seats.

“The other houses have sent spies”, one of the Chasers whispers to Robert. She follows his gaze to the person sitting alone. “That’s Aaron Dingle. Hufflepuff’s Beater.”

“ _I know who he is_ ”, Robert thinks, but he doesn’t say anything.

“I’m not surprised he is sitting alone. I don’t think he has many friends…” the Chaser continues, before flying off to join the tryout.

 

 

That night, Robert spends hours awake. He can’t sleep. He can’t stop thinking about Aaron Dingle. Who isn’t a Gryffindor, like him. Who also happens to be gay…

Robert lets a sigh slip between his lips, and turns over, trying to keep his mind away from the Hufflepuff’s Beater.

**Author's Note:**

> Please, let me know what you think, or if you have any questions or suggestions, in the comments or in tumblr (I'm mrsugden there!).  
> All my love,   
> Ceci :)


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